Can You Get an HEI on a Rental or Investment Property?

In this Article

• Can You Get an HEI on a Rental or Investment Property?
• Which HEI Providers Work with Investment Properties?
• Why Do Most Home Equity Products Exclude Rentals?
• Can You Get an HEI If the Property is Held In an LLC?
• How Does an HEI Compare to a DSCR Loan or Cash-Out Refinance?
• What Does an HEI Actually Cost on a Rental?
• What Should a Landlord Ask Before Signing an HEI?

If you own rental property, you already know the pattern. You have equity, the property cash flows fine, and every lender still treats you like a risk because the house is not your primary residence. Rates run higher, the paperwork runs longer, and if the title sits in an LLC, most home equity products stop being an option at all.

So the question is whether a home equity investment works where a HELOC does not. Sometimes it does. But the field is smaller than the marketing suggests, and the companies most often named in this conversation are not all in it.

A Home Equity Investment, or HEI, gives you cash today in exchange for a share of the property’s future value. There are no monthly payments and no interest rate. The company records a claim against the property and settles when the agreement ends.

Can You Get an HEI on a Rental or Investment Property?

Yes, but only with a minority of HEI providers. Most of this market is built for owner-occupied homes, and the companies that will work with a rental treat it as a higher-risk deal with tighter terms.

Splitero stands out by accepting properties held in LLCs or trusts, with no income verification and credit scores starting at 500. [Check Your Eligibility with Splitero →]

Providers generally sort property three ways, and the sorting happens before anything about you gets evaluated:

• Primary residence. You live there most of the year.
• Second home. You use it personally part of the year and do not rent it out full time.
• Investment property. It is held to produce income, whether or not you ever stay there.

A property gets flagged non-owner-occupied the moment nobody on the title lives in it. That flag sets the ceiling on how much you can access and often the credit floor too. If you own a personal-use vacation place rather than a rental, the rules are different, and we cover those separately in our guide to HEIs on second homes.

Which HEI Providers Work with Investment Properties?

A short list of HEI providers publish that they work with rentals, and several of the best-known names either avoid them or do not say. The summary below reflects each company’s own published material as of September 2026, and these terms change without notice.

Point lets landlords access up to $600,000 in equity without touching their primary mortgage rate. [Check Point’s rates & estimates →]

• Point says in its help center that investment properties and second homes are eligible. But it also lists properties held by an LLC as ineligible, along with co-ops, commercial property, manufactured and mobile homes, and anything with five or more units. It cannot work with irrevocable trusts, though a revocable trust is workable with extra paperwork. So Point takes the rental, but not the entity that owns it.
• Unlock is the most explicit in the market. Its qualification page says you can qualify whether the property is your primary residence, a second home, or a rental, and that it does not verify income for any of them. It excludes raw land and manufactured or mobile housing.
• Unison says its programs are designed for owner-occupied primary residences and that it does not generally invest in rentals, because rental properties tend to take more wear and tear. It does invite you to call about a specific property.
• Splitero accepts single-family homes, condos, townhomes, and two-to-four unit residential property, and is reported to allow title held in an LLC or a trust. The same sources describe the property as needing to be owner-occupied, which would still permit an owner-occupied duplex or fourplex while excluding a single-unit rental you do not live in. Confirm your exact situation and state directly with Splitero.
• Hometap and Nada do not publish a clear position on investment property. Ask before you pay for an appraisal.

If you are shopping this, ask the occupancy question in the first phone call rather than the fifth. Our roundup of HEI companies covers who operates where, and who qualifies for an HEI covers the baseline requirements that apply before property type enters the picture.

Why Do Most Home Equity Products Exclude Rentals?

Lenders and investors exclude non-owner-occupied property because the owner has less reason to protect it in a downturn. That single assumption drives nearly every rule you will run into.

Point is currently one of the few national HEI providers explicitly offering equity access on non-owner-occupied properties. [Check Point eligibility in minutes with no credit impact →]

The logic runs through three things:

• Default behavior. People fight harder to keep the house they sleep in. A rental is the first property most owners let go.
• Condition risk. Tenants are harder on a property than owners, and an HEI provider is betting on the property’s value years from now.
• Verification difficulty. Confirming occupancy, condition, and rental status on a property you do not live in is more work, and more work means fewer companies bother.

This is also why the products that do serve landlords price the risk somewhere. With a loan it shows up as a rate premium. With an HEI it shows up as a bigger appreciation share or a lower amount you can access.

Can You Get an HEI If the Property Is Held in an LLC?

Sometimes, and this is where an HEI can beat a HELOC outright. Most home equity lines require the title to be held by an individual or a revocable living trust, which rules out an LLC, a corporation, a partnership, or an irrevocable trust entirely.

Tap up to $600,000 in rental equity with no monthly payments and flexible credit minimums. [See if your property qualifies on Point →]

For a landlord, that is often the whole ballgame. If you hold rentals in an LLC for liability reasons, you are shut out of most home equity lines before any other factor gets considered. Your options narrow to a cash-out refinance built for investors, or to whichever equity products will work with entity-held title.

Here is the frustrating part, and it is the single most useful thing on this page. The two flexibilities landlords need rarely come together.

• Point takes rentals but not LLCs. Investment properties are eligible, and properties held by an LLC are not. It also cannot work with irrevocable trusts, though a revocable trust is fine with extra documentation.
• Splitero is reported to allow LLC and trust title, which is unusual in this market. But its published property criteria describe owner-occupied homes, so entity title may not get a pure rental across the line.

Need to Keep Your Rental in an LLC or Trust?

Splitero stands out by accepting properties held in LLCs or trusts, with no income verification and credit scores starting at 500. [Check Your Eligibility with Splitero →]

That means the answer depends on which constraint you can move. If the property is a rental held in your own name, you have options. If it is a rental held in an LLC, your list gets very short and you should ask every provider these questions specifically rather than generally:

1. Can the title stay in the LLC, or do I have to move it into my own name?
2. If I have to move it, when can it go back? Some agreements restrict transfers for the whole term.
3. Does moving title trigger anything on my existing mortgage? Due-on-sale language is a real risk here.
4. Who has to sign, the entity or me personally?

Do not restructure ownership to qualify for anything before you have talked to your attorney and your accountant. Moving a property out of an LLC has liability and tax consequences that can dwarf whatever the equity access is worth.

How Does an HEI Compare to a DSCR Loan or Cash-Out Refinance?

An HEI trades away future appreciation instead of charging interest, which makes it the cheaper monthly option and often the more expensive lifetime one. For a rental, the comparison usually comes down to three products.

Feature	HEI on a Rental	DSCR Cash-Out Refinance	Rental HELOC
Monthly Payment	$0 / month	Yes (Principal & Interest)	Yes (Variable Interest)
Income Verification	Often None	Property Cash Flow (DSCR)	Full Tax Returns / DTI
LLC Title Allowed?	Provider Dependent	Yes (Standard)	Generally No
Impact on 1st Mortgage	Keeps Low Rate Intact	Replaces Whole Loan	Keeps Low Rate Intact
Max Cash Access	Up to $500k–$600k	~75% LTV	~60%–70% LTV

A DSCR loan is the one most landlords should price first, because it qualifies on the property’s cash flow rather than your tax returns and it is generally flexible on entity title. Cash-out refinances on rentals commonly cap out around 75% loan to value with roughly six months of ownership seasoning expected. If the property cash flows and you have owned it long enough, that is usually the cheaper path.

The HEI wins in narrower situations. You hold a low rate on the existing mortgage and refinancing would reprice the whole balance, which we cover in our HEI vs cash-out refinance comparison. Or the property does not cash flow well enough for a DSCR loan. Or the monthly payment itself is the problem.

What Does an HEI Actually Cost on a Rental?

The cost is a share of the property’s future value, and on an appreciating rental that share can run well past what interest would have cost over the same period. This is the part that gets underweighted when the pitch is no monthly payment.

Splitero allows flexible title setups (including trusts and LLCs) and offers term matching up to 30 years without monthly payments or DTI checks. [Pre-Qualify with Splitero in Minutes (Soft Credit Pull) →]

Three things drive the number:

• The starting value adjustment. Most providers discount the appraised value before the math begins, which quietly raises what you settle for later.
• The appreciation share. The faster the property grows, the more the agreement costs. In a market like Phoenix, that cuts against you.
• The origination fee. Typically several percent of the amount you receive, taken out of your proceeds at closing.

Run the total cost, not the monthly cost. Our HEI vs HELOC cost comparison shows the method, and the same math applies to a rental.

One more cost that is specific to investors. The company’s claim sits on that property’s title, so you cannot sell it, refinance it, or roll it into a 1031 exchange without settling first. If the property is part of a portfolio you actively trade, that constraint is worth more than the fee. Our guide to how an HEI lien works covers what the recorded claim means in practice.

What Should a Landlord Ask Before Signing an HEI?

Ask whether the property type and the title structure are eligible before you discuss pricing at all. Everything else is wasted effort if the answer to either one is no.

Work through this list:

1. Is a non-owner-occupied property eligible, and where is that stated?
2. Can the title remain in my LLC or trust?
3. How long must I have owned the property? Seasoning rules catch newer investors.
4. Are there restrictions on leasing, tenant type, or lease length during the term?
5. What insurance are you requiring, and does my current landlord policy satisfy it?
6. What starting value adjustment applies, and how is it calculated?
7. What happens if I want to sell or 1031 this property in three years?
8. Can I settle early, and is there a prepayment penalty?

Get every answer in writing. A representative’s verbal yes on occupancy eligibility is not a contract term, and this is the market where that distinction bites hardest.

Splitero’s MaturityMatch™ aligns your agreement length directly with your remaining first-mortgage timeline (up to 30 years), no monthly payments required. [Get an Instant Estimate on Splitero →]

Still not sure which HEI provider is right for you? See our Point vs Splitero comparison.

FAQ: HEI for Investment Property

See if an HEI is right for you and check your Splitero estimate today.

Related Reading

• What Is a Home Equity Investment? covers how HEIs work start to finish.
• HEI on a Second Home covers personal-use vacation property, where the occupancy rules are different.
• Who Qualifies for an HEI? covers the baseline requirements.
• HEI Lien on Your Home explains what the recorded claim means for selling and refinancing.
• HEI vs Cash-Out Refinance runs the comparison for owners holding a low mortgage rate.

EquitySquirrel is an educational resource operated by Scout Media LLC, not a lender or HEI provider. This content does not constitute financial, legal, or investment advice. HEI terms vary by provider and are subject to change; confirm current terms directly. Consult a licensed financial professional before making decisions about your home equity. Aleksandra Kadzielawski, Lic #SA694336000.

Provider eligibility described here comes from each company’s published materials and from independent reviews where a company does not publish a position, verified in September 2026. These terms change without notice. Confirm current requirements directly with the provider before applying.